Home Education and a Small World.....After all..

I am already entering my third educational year of homeschool education consulting and enjoying every minute of it. Working with families, discussing their curriculum and guiding them; using the database for their courses and transcripts; going into web meetings and scheduling appointments.  It's not even about the paycheck, although that is a very nice perk, it is about so much more! ... the unbelievable connections... those wonderful, encouraging connections. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to be sure this is really happening!   To meet families across the US and abroad has been so special and such an amazing blessing after homeschooling all these years.  Who knew that when I was asked if I would take a family from England....it would end up being a family from Ireland, and the mother would share my maiden name, and area of clan in the Emerald Isle?  Is it a small world after all??  I can not tell you how delighted that Irish mother and this part Irish mother was when we could talk about all things Irish, the home education of our children, and the support of Catholic homeschooling all the way....all the way across the ocean. By the way, they do not take homeschooling in Ireland for granted, it is considerably very new and regulated.  There are more protocols in place and check points for them.  

I truly feel if we don't support these wonderful Catholic organization such as Mother of Divine Grace, we will not have them in the future.  I am hopeful to think Modg will be around a nice long time -- they have grown so much, but still I grow concerned that support for authentic homeschooling is waning as cyber public schools seem to attract so many, while others don't seem to really care about quality education, none the less, classical formation. When we started with Modg twenty years ago, I could not imagine their future and how bright it would be...now with all the technology to back them, and opening their own bookstore this last summer...well, they deserve it, they are just the best. 

It has been such a blessing to me to meet with mothers that are doing the same thing I've been doing for the last 20 years.  It has been a support for me when I'm surrounded by other homeschooling families that do things entirely differently.  And that's okay.  It's just nice to talk to those that are doing the same thing and understand the formation and goals and appreciate classical education, and enjoy teaching their children.  They understand and see how perfectly beautiful the Advanced American Gov and Econ, Catholic Doctrine and Health course is at the end of high school years -- how those three courses in unison, beautifully integrated, have a student so immersed in the true teachings of the faith and critical analytic thinking.  I can not even express how beautifully done those courses are - unless you have experienced them through your student yourself.  They are the golden jewels of the Modg program, they are what you have prepared your student for, all those years - this crowning glory where it all culminates with its brilliance. 

My children have received, uninterrupted, the same classical Catholic education across the board with continuity and commitment to each new year.  It has cost money yes, but money so well spent; they are worth every penny of it.  I have learned from my families I consult to,  the cost of private Catholic education across the USA is somewhere around $14,000 and as high as $24,000 in some cases, per child.  Sure, some families say they don't pay quite that much, there are scholarships and financial aid.  Still it's around $9-12,000+ a child on the average. For a smidgen of that cost, and I mean a very small fraction, the whole family can be enrolled in Mother of Divine Grace yearly.  I'm not doing this as an ad, no.  I'm just comparing costs.  And with the wonderful addition of on-line teacher led courses (LS classes), those sometimes tough subjects like Latin and Math, Sciences, could be done in an Adobe classroom setting with a teacher.   There are math labs, for one on one tutorship -- language labs too. There is so much and it's so exciting.  I'm especially excited about the Special Services on line courses for an additional flat semester fee, per semester, that gives the student a block of four core courses, twice a week, in a classroom setting with our varying degrees of special service students and understanding trained instructors.   

As we have already begun our new school a couple months back, I am thoughtful and reflective of how God has led a couple decades of beautiful classical education in our home and enabled me to be able to take a position with this organization; in a way: giving back. Giving back so much that it has given to me and my family.  It brings me joy to do so. 

For more about Mother of Divine Grace, visit:  HERE

To listen to Laura Berquist's recent interview on EWTN'S Home with Jim & Joy Show, click HERE.  

To read the recent Modg Newsletter:  visit HERE, and scroll down to Newsletter, and click the link within the paragraph.